Sara Moonves is an American magazine editor.
She was promoted to editor in chief of '' W,'' a fashion magazine, in 2019. Her appointment stirred vigorous scrutiny and discussion, with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' article about her being entitled ''"The Most Watched Editor at Fashion Week"''.
Early life
Moonves's father,
Les Moonves
Leslie Roy Moonves (; born October 6, 1949) is an American media executive who was the chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation from 2003 until his resignation in September 2018 following numerous allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault and ...
, was a television executive, and ''The New York Times'' described her childhood as being surrounded by celebrities. It reported that future actor
Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill Feldstein (born December 20, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his comedic roles in films including ''Superbad'' (2007), ''Knocked Up'' (2007), ''21 Jump Street'' (2012), ''This Is the End'' (2013), ...
was a good friend.
She attended high school in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
at the
Harvard-Westlake school
Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school consisting of two campuses located in Los Angeles, California, with approximately 1,600 students enrolled in grades seven through twelve. Its two prede ...
and earned a degree in journalism from the
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, ...
Gallatin School of Individualized Study
The Gallatin School of Individualized Study (commonly referred to as Gallatin) is a small interdisciplinary college within New York University (NYU). Students at Gallatin design an interdisciplinary program that meets their specific interests a ...
.
Career in publishing
Moonves interned at ''
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' magazine, another fashion magazine, during her studies, and was hired there, after her graduation. She left ''Vogue'', from 2010 to 2013, to follow
Sally Singer
Sally M. Singer (born December 23, 1930) is an American writer who penned lesbian pulp fiction from the late 1950s through the mid-1970s. She is most well known for her works which she wrote under the pseudonyms March Hastings and Laura Duchamp, m ...
, a senior editor who had mentored her, who had been hired to become editor of '' T: The New York Times Style Magazine''.
She followed Singer back to ''Vogue'' to become a contributing fashion editor.
''W'' magazine hired her as Style director, in 2017. On June 25, 2019,
Condé Nast
Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast, and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan.
The company's med ...
sold ''W'' to
Future Media
The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...
, and Moonves replaced the previous editor,
Stefano Tonchi Stefano Tonchi (born 13 October 1959, Florence, Italy) is an Italian journalist, curator, and consultant.
In March 2022, he launched Palmer, a luxury media brand, with Michael J Berman, co-founder of George magazine.
He served as consulting chie ...
.
On March 25, 2020, Moonves called a staff meeting, and told most of the magazine's employees they were being laid off. Employees in the online department were remaining, but at reduced salaries. Her boss, Marc Lotenberg, CEO of Future Media, said the magazine had to be put into ''"survival mode"'', because ''“ e bottom has dropped out of the luxury market.”
On August 14, 2020, ''W'' magazine was acquired by a group of new investors. They retained Moonves as editor in chief. ''
Daily Front Row
The ''Daily Front Row'' is a fashion industry publication, commonly known as ''The Daily''. Brandusa Niro is the editor-in-chief. In 2011, Niro bought a controlling interest in the magazine, which was formerly owned by IMG.
Niro founded ''The D ...